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A recent inquiry involved a heating system for a school in which two electric boilers were being added to supplement the output of a gas-fired cast-iron boiler, and take advantage of low “off-peak” electrical rates.

Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke sat down with longtime PM Columnist Ray Wohlfarth, president of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Fire & Ice, to discuss his experience as a contractor specializing in boilers, what the boiler market looks like today, and what to expect in this space moving forward.

Each year, Plumbing & Mechanical editors receive thousands of product releases from industry manufacturers.

Have you remodeled a bathroom recently? If so, maybe you’ve noticed problems with the toilet.
To get more specific: Is it rocking noisily when the homeowner takes a seat? Or maybe they've noticed water pooling at the base. Perhaps the flooring surrounding the toilet feels soft. Or water spots have appeared on the ceiling located directly below the toilet.

When I first started working for Plumbing & Mechanical’s sister publication, The ACHR NEWS in 2014, I was often the only woman in the room at industry events. Those first few conferences were just a bit intimidating. In fact, it wasn’t until a HARDI annual conference that I first met other women in the industry — shout out to Colleen Keyworth, director of sales and marketing for Online-Access and immediate past president of Women in HVACR, for her immediate friendship then and for all the years since!

As businesses and homeowners across the nation wrestle with inflation and stretching their dollars for maximum value, one area that can’t be overlooked is the heating system.

With increasing awareness on energy efficiency, natural gas bans, decarbonization and indoor air quality, the world has been undoubtedly changed, and the plumbing and HVACR industries continue to be on the frontlines of these challenges.

I love all the advances taking place in the world of hydronics, but I’m still seeing plenty of steam systems out there in our older cities, so knowing about dry steam will help you if you’re replacing a steam boiler. The dryer the steam is, the better you’re going to look to your customers.

Many legacy hydronic heating systems use a fossil fuel boiler to supply fin-tube baseboard heat emitters in some areas of a building and lower-temperature radiant panels in other areas. 

Given the current prices for fuel oil and propane, and current state and federal incentive programs, many homeowners are asking heating contractors to replace their aging boilers with a geothermal heat pump system.